Pierre Gasly was slapped with a 20-second time penalty for speeding under red flag conditions in a hugely controversial incident that left the French driver furious at the Japanese Grand Prix.
A recovery vehicle came out on the Suzuka circuit after the safety car was called for early on in Sunday’s F1 race, Carlos Sainz having crashed his Ferrari into the barrier on lap one as a downpour intensified.
Gasly’s AlphaTauri collected an advertising board sent onto the track from the shunt, forcing him to pit. Returning to the race as the red flag was thrown, he missed the truck by only a few metres at high speed while a marshal recovered Sainz’s car.
He called out on team radio: “What is this? What is this tractor on track?! I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what has happened. Can’t believe this.”
Ferrari driver Sainz insisted the vehicle should not have been out under any circumstances and for many it recalled the death of F1 star Jules Bianchi at Suzuka in 2014, when he hit a tractor under safety car conditions.
“I don’t know if people understand but even behind the safety car, when going at 150kph, we don’t see anything. Even behind the safety car,” he told Sky F1.
“So if one driver decides to get a bit out of the racing line or has small aquaplaning or has to change a switch on the steering wheel and gets a bit out of line... it’s over. I still don’t know why we keep in these conditions risking having a tractor on track. It’s worthless. You were going to red flag it anyway, so why risk it?”
Gasly finished 17th and reiterated his anger after the race, citing Bianchi’s death and insisting he was following the delta time he was required to in the race conditions.
Bianchi’s father, Philippe, slammed the decision to send out the truck and wrote on Instagram: “No respect for the Life of the driver no respect for Jules memory incredible.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris added: “Wtf. How’s this happened!? We lost a life in this situation years ago. We risk our lives, especially in conditions like this. We wanna race. But this… Unacceptable.”
Sergio Perez of Red Bull wrote on social media: “How can we make it clear that we never want to see a crane on track?
“We lost Jules because of that mistake. What happened today is totally unacceptable!!!!! I hope this is the last time ever I see a crane on track!”
Williams driver Alex Albon revealed Sebastian Vettel raised the matter before the race after a similar incident in Singapore last weekend.
Former world champion Jenson Button said: “From an emotional point of view, there is no need to put something else on track that could cause a worse incident. But should he have been driving at that speed? That’s another question altogether.”
The FIA released a statement attempting to explain the circumstances behind the incident. Stewards reviewed the footage after the race and handed out a drive-through penalty to Gasly, adding on 20 seconds to his race time, and two penalty points on his licence.
It read: “The Safety Car had been deployed and the race neutralised. Car 10, which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was driving at high speed to catch up to the field.
“As conditions were deteriorating, the Red Flag was shown before Car 10 passed the location of the incident where it had been damaged the previous lap.”
